Sports research

Khyala Ngodu

Genre: Sports

Sub Genre: Basketball

 I chose the genre Sports because I've been around all types of sports since I was around 7 whether it's basketball, football, swimming or track. Sports in general is and always will be something I'm interested in and involved in for a very long time. I chose the sub genre basketball because I am a basketball player here at Dillard who plans on playing at the Division 1(NCAA) college level and professionally as a career. I plan on creating a magazine that will target teenage girls ages 13-18 who also plan on playing basketball at the next level whether it be college or professionally (WNBA/Overseas). This magazine will focus on providing information to these teenage girls who are like myself to help guide them and teach them as much as possible about the process of going into playing professionally. The type of people I'm looking to represent my product are past or current women's basketball professional athletes. I want these women to represent my product because they will serve of examples of what my target audience hopes to become one day

 This magazine includes WNBA player Candace Parker as she poses in her Chicago Sky (WNBA Team) jersey with a ball in her hand. At the top of the page the Masthead reads "SLAM", the title of the magazine. Other text includes cover lines that are the names of other professional athletes such as Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker. The target audience for this magazine are late teenage, early 20 girls that watch the WNBA and the colors used in the background are gold and black to represent triumph, given that Candace Parker is highly accomplished in her craft.

In this magazine we can see superstar NBA player Lebron James posing for the ESPN magazine with a camera in his hand. This magazine targets the late teen-early 30s male audience because of the colors cover image. The colors white, blue and red represent freshness and confidence. This magazine was released during the NBA playoffs and having a player like Lebron on the cover will bring lots of traction and attention to the NBA. The magazine also highlights other sports such as baseball and hockey through subtitles.

In this last example from Sports Illustrated magazine, WNBA players A'ja Wilson, Candace Parker and Sue Bird are seen posing with basketballs in their hands as the magazine's main image. The audience for this magazine would be early 20-late 30 girls that are fans of the WNBA. Throughout the cover page of the magazine we see the colors grey, white and black which represent coolness, empowerment, and simplicity. The Skyline in the magazine highlight the WNBA's anniversary and Cover lines name a few of the accomplishment of the athletes in main image.

Contents Page Analysis

Spread Codes and Conventions

Representation in Media: Stereotypes

Characters who fit gender stereotypes

Piper is a privileged white woman in her 30s who gets put into prison for past crimes. Throughout her time in prison she struggles to make this life a normal one due to her having no background knowledge on how to survive, and constantly being reminded she's no longer on the pedestal she once was when she was out. White women tend to look for handouts given that life is easier for them that they have the upper hand in society.

Tom Clancy, who plays Jack Ryan is highlighted as the "hero" throughout the show. He also works for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), depicting him as very smart. This is usually how most white males is shown throughout the media. He comes across as very dominant throughout the show with the heavy facial hair and being how muscular he is.

Kanan is a young black male lead in the TV drama series Power Book 3: Raising Kanan. Kanan is a 15 year kid who was born in the Queens, New York and due to his surroundings, influences and upbringing he fell victim to street life and throughout the show would learn how to master different criminal activities like selling drugs and committing robberies. This is usually how the black male raised in a bad environment is portrayed on TV and Kanan falls right into the stereotype. 

Characters who challenge gender stereotypes

Billy Baker is an African American male who lives in an upper class neighborhood with his wife and two kids. Financially they have a great life due to Billy's background as a formal NFL player. This is character gives light to the role as a black male in society, being that its the opposite of what they're usually shown as. 

Idris Elba plays character John Luther in the TV drama series "Luther", where he is the African American male lead. This is something that is very uncommon in show business especially since "Luther" is portrayed as a very brilliant man who works as a Detective Chief Inspector (DCI). 

James Avery plays as TV character "Uncle Phil" in the TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". In the show he's known as the head of the household who brought Will, his nephew, into his mansion in Bel-air, California to take care of him. Uncle Phil works as a Judge and Senior partner at Furth, Wynn and Meyers' Law Firm, a job not many African Americans are seen getting.